In solo recital, he has appeared in many prestigious venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Rotterdam De Doelen, Berlin Philharmonie, Zürich Tonhalle, Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, and Suntory Hall Tokyo. In January 2016, Piemontesi launched his complete Mozart Odyssey at the Wigmore Hall, performing the sonatas in a series of recitals over the course of three seasons:

“[The D-major Fantasia] was a good introduction to Piemontesi’s balance between musical intelligence, judgement and intuition, which poured into his reading of the K284 Sonata… The detail of decoration and dynamics Piemontesi released in the penultimate section – a full-scale Adagio vocalise of great intensity – made Mozart’s supernatural eloquence soar” Classical Source

Piemontesi has performed at the Verbier Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, La Roque d'Anthéron, Chopin International Music Festival in Warsaw, Lucerne Festival, Schubertiade, Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival, Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein festivals and New York Mostly Mozart Festival.

Francesco Piemontesi has released a number of fine recordings, including three recordings for Naïve Classique: the Debussy Préludes, released in autumn 2015, Mozart Piano Works, and Schumann and Dvořák‘s Piano Concerti with BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jiří Bělohlávek. His recording of Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 25 & 26 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Andrew Manze were released on Linn Records in August 2017.

Born in Locarno, Francesco Piemontesi studied with Arie Vardi before working with Alfred Brendel, Murray Perahia, Cécile Ousset and Alexis Weissenberg. He rose to international prominence with prizes at several major competitions, including the 2007 Queen Elisabeth Competition, and between 2009-11 he was chosen as a BBC New Generation Artist.

Since 2012, Piemontesi has been the Artistic Director of the Settimane Musicali di Ascona.

2017-2018 season / 532 words. Not to be altered without permission.

Calendar

Repertoire

Concertos with Orchestra

Antonin Dvorak

Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 33

Béla Bartók

Piano Concerto No. 1, Sz 83

Benjamin Britten

Piano Concerto in D major, Op. 13

Edvard Grieg

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16

Felix Mendelssohn

Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25

Franz Joseph Haydn

Piano Concerto in C Major

Franz Liszt

Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S125/R456

Frédéric Chopin

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21

György Ligeti

Piano Concerto

Johannes Brahms

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15

Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83

Ludwig van Beethoven

Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73, "Emperor"

Maurice Ravel

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major

Piano Concerto in G major

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23

Richard Strauss

Burlesque

Robert Schumann

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54

Sergei Rachmaninov

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40

Sergej Prokofiev

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, KV 466

Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major, Op. 4, No. 2, KV 413

Piano Concerto No. 13 in A Major, KV 415

Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, KV 503

Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, KV 453

Piano Concerto No. 26 in D major, KV 537, "Coronation"

Piano Concerto No. 12 in A - Major KV 414

Piano Concerto No. 14 in E flat Major, KV 449

Piano Concerto no. 27 in B flat Major, KV 595

Review

Wigmore Hall Recital

Classical Source

Thu, 2014-05-01

" His excoriating, electrifying performance of Schubert's C minor Sonata. I loved the care and discretion Piemontesi lavished on the pedalling, so that you were never at the mercy of mere blasts of sound, but most memorable was the surge of possession that brought the finale to melting-point hysteria. This was drama and tragedy. and all from a coolly undemonstrative performer. There was a different but no less potent spirit of possession at work in his encore, a dazzlingly virtuosic and extrovert performance of [Debussy's] 'Feux d'artifice'."

Mozart Piano Works

The Daily Telegraph

Sat, 2014-04-05

" Piemontesi's playing on this disc identifies a Mozartian of rare refinement and wisdom."
Geoffrey Norris

Five Stars

The Independent

Tue, 2012-11-13

At 29, the Swiss-Italian pianist Francesco Piemontesi is still at the beginning of his career, but his recitals and recordings attest an artistry which is world-class in its mature refinement. His training with the distinguished pianist Cecile Ousset is reflected in the way he moves his hands and arms with a relaxed awareness of their weight; Alfred Brendel has taught him, he says, to love the detail of things.
And it was very much in that spirit that he launched into Mozarts early Sonata in D major K 284 at the QEH, using a light, springy touch to bring out the first movements orchestral variety of tone; the variations of the finale were vividly characterised.
Piemontesi has described his approach to Schuberts sonatas as a form of cartography, and the early Sonata in A minor D 537 clearly benefited from that. He presented its first movement less as a formal structure than as a tapestry of moods, and gave the slow movement an improvisatory feel. After a finely-calibrated performance of Chopins Barcarolle came Debussys Preludes Book 2, and there his playing took the breath away. He combined the black and white notes of Brouillards to create soft grey tonalities, and went on to dazzle us with a wonderful range of effects in which a flawless technique was put to the service of some very original interpretations.
Michael Church

"Brilliant Display From an Astonishing Young Talent"

The Daily Telegraph

Tue, 2012-11-13

With some young pianists, native brilliance and joy in sheer digital dexterity sometimes runs ahead of musical intelligence. Thats never the case with Italian pianist Francesco Piemontesi.
At the age of 29 hes already a superbly self-possessed artist. He has technique to burn, but the striking moments in this recital and there were plenty of them owed nothing to the wow factor.
That musical intelligence was already evident in the programme, which was cunningly shaped to create a sense of burgeoning amplitude. The sonatas by Mozart and Schubert that came before the interval were both seldom-played products of their composers youth, and though fascinating were not absolutely top-drawer works a smart move, as it threw the focus onto Piemontesis artistry.
The first thing one noticed was how well matched Piemontesis small perfectly-formed sound was to the essentially classical frame of the music. And yet there was never any sense of deliberate holding back. The operatic quality in the slow movement of Mozarts sonata was beautifully caught. You could almost hear sultry clarinets answering the curling, graceful phrases of the voice. In Schuberts slow movement, Piemontesi gave the dry bass a touch of pedal, just enough to lend its martial outline a mysterious quality (Piemontesi is as much a poet of the pedals as he is of the keyboard).
After the interval came music by Chopin and Debussy, and a sudden blooming of the piano sound. Even so, Piemontesis performance of Chopins Barcarolle was restrained by many pianists standards, and probably too much so for some tastes. But I relished the unusual clarity of the inner parts, and the sense of release brought in the final pages, where Piemontesi seemed to finally let himself go.
Finally came the crowning glory of this recital, a complete performance of the 2nd book of Debussys piano Preludes. Its often said of Debussy that he dissolved musical line into sheer colour, but as Piemontesis performance showed the truth is more complicated. The first piece Brouillards (Fog) is often rendered as pure mistiness, but Piemontesi gave us a sense of something solid glimpsed through the mist, which was much more interesting. Every one of the 12 pieces came up fresh, even the modest ones like Canope (Canopy) which nestled tenderly inside its opening and closing frame. Finally came Feux dartifices (Fireworks), which whirred and crackled and finally erupted with a frenzied energy, in a way Ive never heard equalled. Five stars
Ivan Hewett

City of London Festival/Chopin, Debussy & Schumann

Classical Source

Fri, 2011-07-01

"There were many poetic insights here, from the surging romanticism of the opening to the beautiful lyricism of its successor and its sudden departures to faster music were always tempered by the calm of the romance to which it returned. Piemontesi proved extremely adept at proceeding between moments of urgency and repose. The fifth piece, marked Sehr lebhaft, moved with particular intent. As so often with Kreisleriana, it was the last section that carried the greatest emotional weight, its strangely haunting theme like a restless butterfly. Piemontesi caught the essence of this quite beautifully and allowing silence to complete the performance. As an encore Piemontesi stayed with Schumann, the finale of Kinderszenen, 'Der Dichter spricht', which displayed the pianists poise and grace."

A real aristocratic sweep

The Guardian

Wed, 2011-06-01

"Franceso Piemontesi's latest recital disc confirms the fine impression left by his set of Schumann's piano sonatas released by Claves last year. There's a real aristocratic sweep to this 27-year-old Swiss pianist's playing; the Handel suite is generously expressive, while Piemontesi's account of the Brahms Variations themselves is full of delicacy and transparent textures that make you hang on every phrase. Liszt's transcription of Bach's G minor Fantasy and Fugue makes the neat link between the first partita and the extract from the first book of the Années de Pèlerinage. Piemontesi's unaffected Bach playing is recognisably all of a piece with his fundamentally unflamboyant approach to Liszt, which manages to present the rhetorical grandeur of Vallée d'Obermann truthfully, without exaggerating it in any way."

Intelligence, refinement, elegance of tone

Le Monde

Wed, 2011-06-01

"The name of this young Swiss pianist was unknown to us. But this record, intelligently constructed, which combines the works of Brahms and Liszt to their direct sources in Bach and Handel, gives us a great desire to learn more. Intelligence, refinement, elegance of tone, as well as complete clarity of polyphony are all characteristic of this musician, born in 1983. This is particularly beneficial in Brahms Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, which is superbly interpreted."

Remarkable insight

The Telegraph

Mon, 2011-08-01

"The young Swiss-Italian Francesco Piemontesi combines communicative panache with remarkable insight. He prefaces a virile, sensitive performance of Brahmss Handel Variations with a stylistically discerning one of the Handel suite from which Brahms took his theme. Bachs Partita No1, Liszts transcription of the G minor Fantasy and Fugue and Vallée dObermann provide further evidence of Piemontesis exceptional talent."

Phenomenal appreciation of sound

Radio Bremen

Mon, 2011-08-01

"Piemontesi will soon be regarded as one of the great pianists of our time. He plays with phenomenal appreciation of sound, sophisticated technique and high intelligence all of which point towards a brilliant career"

Youthful charm

Tages-Anzeiger

Tue, 2011-11-01

"Two opposites met in Mozarts Piano Concerto K503: On the one hand Mehta, the grandseigneur: confident and poised. On the other hand the young Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi: modest but with a youthful charm. The astonishing result: an organically flowing Mozart, because Piemontesi spun out the complex lines with a graceful, beautiful sound. But far from dwelling in this beautiful sound in a narcissistic way, he adeptly and delicately integrated it into the web of orchestral voices. This Mozart was one of great subtlety. It sounded not reduced, not augmented, not indulgent, but instead radiant and natural."

Ravel Piano Concerto in G major/Orchestre National de Lille

Nord éclair

Fri, 2012-06-01

"One is struck by the constant rhythmic subtlety and technique of pianist Francesco Piemontesi. There is lyrical grace, elegance, clarity and magnitude in his playing. Were challenged and captivated at the same time, and that is the signature of a great artist."

Deutsche Radio Philharmonie / Mozart Piano Concerto, K503

Saarbruecker Zeitung

Thu, 2012-11-01

"Francesco Piemontesi performed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's piano concerto in C major K503 with grace and delicacy. He let his part sparkle with airy jeu perlé and brought a great sense of fun to the cadenza (quoting the Marseilleise alongside the concertos main themes)..... As an encore he played a minuet by Handel with a cultured and exquisite touch."

Took the breath away

International Piano

Tue, 2013-01-01

"His recital was supremely accomplished in every respect his account of Debussy Preludes Book 2 took the breath away"

Superbly self-possessed

The Telegraph

Thu, 2012-11-01

"With some young pianists, native brilliance and joy in sheer digital dexterity sometimes runs ahead of musical intelligence. Thats never the case with Italian pianist Francesco Piemontesi. At the age of 29 hes already a superbly self-possessed artist. He has technique to burn, but the striking moments in this recital and there were plenty of them owed nothing to the 'wow'-factor.
That musical intelligence was already evident in the programme, which was cunningly shaped to create a sense of burgeoning amplitude. The sonatas by Mozart and Schubert that came before the interval were both seldom-played products of their composers youth, and though fascinating were not absolutely top-drawer works a smart move, as it threw the focus onto Piemontesis artistry.
The first thing one noticed was how well matched Piemontesis small perfectly-formed sound was to the essentially classical frame of the music. And yet there was never any sense of deliberate holding back. The operatic quality in the slow movement of Mozarts sonata was beautifully caught. You could almost hear sultry clarinets answering the curling, graceful phrases of the voice. In Schuberts slow movement, Piemontesi gave the dry bass a touch of pedal, just enough to lend its martial outline a mysterious quality (Piemontesi is as much a poet of the pedals as he is of the keyboard).
After the interval came music by Chopin and Debussy, and a sudden blooming of the piano sound. Even so, Piemontesis performance of Chopins Barcarolle was restrained by many pianists standards, and probably too much so for some tastes. But I relished the unusual clarity of the inner parts, and the sense of release brought in the final pages, where Piemontesi seemed to finally let himself go.
Finally came the crowning glory of this recital, a complete performance of the 2nd book of Debussys piano Preludes. Its often said of Debussy that he dissolved musical line into sheer colour, but as Piemontesis performance showed the truth is more complicated. The first piece Brouillards (Fog) is often rendered as pure mistiness, but Piemontesi gave us a sense of something solid glimpsed through the mist, which was much more interesting. Every one of the 12 pieces came up fresh, even the modest ones like Canope (Canopy) which nestled tenderly inside its opening and closing frame. Finally came Feux dartifices (Fireworks), which whirred and crackled and finally erupted with a frenzied energy, in a way Ive never heard equalled."
By: Ivan Hewett

International Piano Series / Mozart, Schubert, Chopin & Debussy

The Independent,

Thu, 2012-11-01

"At 29, the Swiss-Italian pianist Francesco Piemontesi is still at the beginning of his career, but his recitals and recordings attest an artistry which is world-class in its mature refinement. His training with the distinguished pianist Cecile Ousset is reflected in the way he moves his hands and arms with a relaxed awareness of their weight; Alfred Brendel has taught him, he says, 'to love the detail of things'.
And it was very much in that spirit that he launched into Mozarts early 'Sonata in D major K 284' at the QEH, using a light, springy touch to bring out the first movement's orchestral variety of tone; the variations of the finale were vividly characterised.
Piemontesi has described his approach to Schuberts sonatas as a form of cartography, and the early 'Sonata in A minor D 537' clearly benefited from that. He presented its first movement less as a formal structure than as a tapestry of moods, and gave the slow movement an improvisatory feel. After a finely-calibrated performance of Chopin's 'Barcarolle' came Debussy's 'Preludes Book 2', and there his playing took the breath away. He combined the black and white notes of 'Brouillards' to create soft grey tonalities, and went on to dazzle us with a wonderful range of effects in which a flawless technique was put to the service of some very original interpretations."
By: Michael Church

Effortless aplomb

The Scotsman

Tue, 2013-01-01

Francesco Piemontesi played the streams of arpeggios and scale passages in the outer movements with effortless aplomb. However, his talents really came to the fore in the lyrical andante where he basked in the honeyed glow of the cello and viola accompaniment. Piemontesi then topped his own performance with Debussy's shimmering Feux d'artifice as an encore.
By:Susan Nickalls

Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.1

The Herald

Tue, 2013-01-01

The night belonged to the astonishing Swiss-Italian pianist Francesco Piemontesi for his dazzling and amazingly fleet performance of Mendelssohn's First Piano Concerto, one of those rare performances that reveals the mastery and genius of a composition and asks why we hear the piece so infrequently. The playing of the slow movement, which threw a spotlight on the lower strings of the SCO, was breathtakingly tender and beautiful.
And then, having stopped hearts with his own pristine, exquisite playing in the slow movement of the concerto, Piemontesi went on to break them with an encore of a slow movement from one of Schuberts Piano Sonatas: music so simple it could be played by a capable student; music so profound it could have been uttered by a philosopher.
By: Michael Tumelty

Wigmore Hall Recital

Classical Source

Mon, 2013-12-16

"Francesco Piemontesi, at 30 a fully fledged master, played four Debussy Preludes in a manner to rival Pollini's, while his account of Schubert's D960 Sonata was both ravishing and original."